When Will Wall Street Call for More Federal Spending?

[abelenkpe]

When Will Wall Street Call for More Federal Spending?

http://robertreich.org/post/10525888192

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped another 3 percent today as Wall Street metabolized the truth most Americans already know: We’re in a recession. The “double dip” has arrived.

Most Americans never really emerged from the Great Recession anyway.

We can get out of this recession but not via the Fed’s “quantitative easing” alone. When consumers can’t spend and businesses won’t spend without additional consumers, government must be the spender of last resort.

Juicing the economy back to health (notice I didn’t use the “s” word Republicans have now vilified) will require at least $700 billion in additional federal spending this year and next. (This number takes account of state and local government cutbacks as well as well as the current shortfall between current economic activity and the economy’s productive capacity at or near full employment.)

But this magnitude of additional spending isn’t feasible in the face of Tea Party Republican intransigence. Hell, Republicans won’t even spend additional money on flood and hurricane relief. The Tea Party obsession about the federal deficit and the size of the government is prevailing.

Not only is this obsession keeping millions of Americans out of work, it’s also starting to bring down the Street.

(more at link)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know many are disappointed with how little our president has accomplished but please recognize who is standing in the way.

[DJ13]

1. They dont really want government spending, they want more free Fed money

Fewer strings, and they can gamble on the public's dime in commodities.

[girl gone mad]

2. No one stood in Obama's way in 2008 and 2009.

He made his bed.

[abelenkpe]

3. He picked a crappy economic team for sure

And then wasted a year coming up with a luke warm solution to HC. But I'd still take him anyday over a republican. We will be truly f'd if reps take over.

[gratuitous]

4. As soon as they can repeal that pesky minimum wage

Then it's open the floodgates to no-bid and cost-plus contracts! The bon temps will roolay then, boy.